An Unexpected Offer

Zek sat at his desk, looking over the letter even though the runner had just left with his reply. “Cage!” he shouted.

A young lady’s face appeared at the door in response to his shout. “Yeah?” she replied.

“I’m going out. Looks like we got a high level job that has BOHICA written all over it. So you and the other stay at the ready. I’ll call if I get FUBAR.” The young lady nodded and vanished.

Zek stood and took a deep breath. He knew that what they were trying to do would take a lot of blood sweat and tears. But it would be worth it if they could establish themselves as a viable resource in the Canyon.

The repair and refurbish of the old NFPD building was underway. If this new job was legit and went well it would be a huge start in being more than just a building and flyers. Hanging the Badge around his neck he spoke to the picture on the back. “Time to put up or shut up babe.”

She took a long pull from the clay whiskey jug Longshot gave her then nudged Deadye, who shook her head and asked,

"When are you leaving?"

Sang drained the rest of the amber fluid and stood up, the heat of it easing the tension and anxiety she would deny even to herself that was always felt when having to deal with anyone outside The Children.

"Now, If I let this chance slip by there may not be another if the wasteland gobbles them up like it has all the other Badges."

She kicked the empty jug over the broken wall behind them, the sound of breaking pottery followed.

"Fuck! I hate having to go beg favors of Shackles, I am not even sure Aiid would have approved of this plan, but it is all I have since no one else has been able to even get close."

Longshot and Deadeye looked at each other briefly as the woman mounted the enormous blight wolf and settled the skull and feathers over long, dark red dredlocks.

Longshot shot put an arm around Deadeye and was promptly punched hard enough to draw a trickle of blood ..followed by a loving kiss.

He sat in the car, feeling the rumble of the engine through the wheel. This was all kinds of wrong. They had not even finished getting set up, and this dropped in his lap. This was either going to be an epic boost, or the total destruction of his group.

He watched Bubba and Cass place the window facing the junkyard in place and grinned. The kids from the orphanage had been watching them since they started, and Cass had come up with a perfect idea. The window looked like plane glass. No wires and nothing to indicate anything but a normal window. Unless you were there when the frame was put together. In reality it was 5 sheets of plexi-glass, layered together. The window was strong as steel, and practically indestructible. It will be fun to see what the kids come up with to try and break it. And a camera hidden on the roof pointed toward the fence will catch all the action, as well as faces.

It was dark when she rode in across the brown-gold grass, the air was alive with electrical currents from the massive towers and raised the fine hair on her arms.

A broodmother hissed as the hideously mutated dog that followed her with mindless devotion veered too close.

She stopped for a moment to observe the large spider and noticed that it seemed so much smaller then the utterly enormous arachnids that they used to be.

Somehow this was important, but knew it would take someone else to figure out why.

The second floor room of a small but sturdy, single entry building with a windowed view of all directions including the road was rented for a few days use before she unpacked Kaos Wolf and went inside.

An hour later she leaned against the large saddle and stared out the window with a mostly empty bottle tucked between leather-clad legs, hoping she had enough time to get good and drunk before he got there.

Zek could hear the skittering as he shut off the engine to his car. The Blight Wolf growled at Zek as he got out, but made no move toward him. The Blight Wolf’s presence clearly kept the local wildlife away, so walking in the dark did not hold the treat of stepping on something that would object.

Zek stood and scanned the area. He was not shot at and no movement other that the large dog was present.

He made his way up the stairs, and leaned in the doorway. He grined at the leather clad woman. “So your the CHOTA Queen. I thought you would be taller.”

She stood near the window, handstitched leather pants slung low on her hips, a swatch of faded blue cloth tied across her breasts served as a makeshift tube top, dredlocked hair fell to her hips which in the dim light of the window appeared the color of blood in moonlight.

The room was hot and smelled like a combination of whiskey, bruno and battery acid, The diminutive warlord was stinking drunk, yet holding a shotgun in one hand which she unloaded with a non threatening Ka-chink Thunk when the unspent shell fell on the floor.

"I have heard that before, I was hoping for someone more clever"

She watched the tall bearded man for a moment. He had long hair and and eagle tattoo with no visable weapons. She reprimanded herself for not being nice to someone she needed help from.. but that damn "short" comment always cut right to the front of her anger line.

"I am trying not to be rude and failing, forgive me" The words were choked and did not reach her eyes, but she was in the process of doing something she never did.,.asking for help.

There is a child clone out there, always a vicious, untamed thing but she had a chain of support at one time, a network of families and people that were able to socialize her to an extent, and keep the mayhem she is capable of to a minimum. It seems she has either outlived them all, or they moved on to something else and I am all that is left that has even a chance to contain that which has been unleashed into the unsuspecting wasteland.

She is cannibalistic, the more she feeds on human flesh the more she craves it, The waif can be engaging but never forget for even a moment that this tiny terror is a prolific killer without a war to spend her only passion in.

There is also the matter of her being a pathogenic sensor for Lifenet, every foul disease and toxin is drawn to her like a high powered magnet and the data is supposed to be downloaded during the recloning process or manually by a Graham. This is no longer happening and she will not let anyone she recognizes near her.

"I have never once been able to get closer then 50 meters to her before she vanishes, and she is almost out of time and I fear I am her last minute chance to avoid a complete termination, in fact I had given up on preventing it until the flyer was seen by one of Mine. This is where you and your shiny little badge comes in."

She filled the man in on Canni's unlikely relationship with the Badgers first since it was that connection that she hoped would be drawn to an unknown badge, and then Aiidoneus, Ardenn and what she knew of Dorado.

"You may also want to enquire at Hope Springs, she has old ties to the town.

If she is tricked or forced into being brought to me she will simply run again, which will end badly because the only ones she cannot hide from is Lifenet.. and possibly TETRAX.

If the latter gets ahold of what equates as a ticking pathogen time bomb.. well then things will not end well for the rest of us"

Sang opened a fresh bottle and got comfortable against the large saddle and took a drink.